Mobile system for catalytic production of diesel oil

ABSTRACT

A system includes an apparatus for catalytic production of diesel oil from organic residue, and a vehicle, wherein the apparatus is arranged on the vehicle to thereby render the apparatus mobile. The catalytic apparatus includes a fuel supply line which is fluidly connected to a drive unit of the vehicle. Diesel oil produced by the apparatus can thus be used for operating the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priorities of German Patent Application, Serial No. 10 2006 060 224.2, filed Dec. 20, 2006, and German Utility Model Application, Serial No. 20 2006 019 159.3, filed Dec. 20, 2006, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, in general, to a system for catalytic production of diesel oil from organic residues.

Nothing in the following discussion of the state of the art is to be construed as an admission of prior art.

U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 2005/0115871, published Jun. 2, 2005, discloses a catalytic apparatus for the production of diesel oil from hydrocarbon-containing residues in an oil circuit with solids separation and product distillation for the diesel product with energy input by means of pumps and counterrotating agitators and by the use of fully crystallized catalysts of potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium-aluminum silicates. These types of apparatuses are stationary and require a delivery of the organic residues oftentimes from distant locations. This is cost-intensive and time-consuming.

It would be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved catalytic apparatus for the production of diesel oil to obviate prior art shortcomings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, a system includes an apparatus for catalytic production of diesel oil from organic residues, and a vehicle, wherein the apparatus is arranged on the vehicle to thereby render the apparatus mobile.

The present invention resolves prior art problems by providing a mobile system which can be positioned in close proximity of the source of organic residues. As a result, transport costs and accompanying personnel costs can be significantly reduced.

According to another feature of the present invention, the vehicle may be a ship. As a result, waste oil, including bilge oil, tank cleaning oil, service oil, and residual tank oil, that is generated during ship maintenance works and normally dumped by ocean liners or other large ships in the open water or in the water upon docking in a harbor, can now be used and recovered. This also reduces water pollution and harm to maritime life. As a result of the mobility of the system according to the invention, the ship can be quickly dispatched into close proximity of a tanker or ocean liner to accept any waste oil that has been produced, e.g. by maintenance works, and normally is disposed of through drainage into the water body.

In addition, the combination of the catalytic production apparatus with a ship or any other type of vehicle, such as a freight train, railway car, or truck, allows conversion of organic residues into diesel oil on board. Also, the need for thermal combustion plants in order to dispose of waste oil is eliminated, thereby further reducing environmental hazards.

In the description, the term “waste oil” is used in a generic sense to include any type of organic residues that are considered waste and marked for disposal.

According to another feature of the present invention, the vehicle has a drive unit, with the apparatus including a fuel supply line which is operatively connected to the drive unit. Suitably, the vehicle has a store tank which is connected to the drive unit, and a fuel tank connected to the store tank via a feed line and provided for accepting fuel, i.e. diesel oil, from the catalytic apparatus. The store tank should, of course, always contain a minimum quantity of fuel so as to ensure mobility of the vehicle before the catalytic apparatus has begun to produce diesel oil.

According to another feature of the present invention, the system may include a suction device for drawing oil-contaminated water from a water body, and an extractor for removing waste oil from the oil-contaminated water supplied by the suction device to the extractor. In this way, waste oil from oil-contaminated water of a river, lake or sea can be recovered and converted into diesel oil. The apparatus may include a receiving tank for collecting waste oil. Of course, the receiving tank may also be used for accepting waste oil from land. Suitably, the receiving tank has an accepting device which is constructed for attachment of a hose for charging the receiving tank with liquid residues.

According to another feature of the present invention, the ship may be constructed for approach by a transport vehicle for unloading organic residues into the receiving tank of the apparatus. The transport vehicle may hereby be a truck. Of course, an on-shore hose may also be connected to the receiving tank for supply of waste oil.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent upon reading the following description of currently preferred exemplified embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which the sole FIGURE shows a side view of a mobile system according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The depicted embodiment is to be understood as illustrative of the invention and not as limiting in any way. It should also be understood that the FIGURE is not necessarily to scale.

Turning now to the sole FIGURE, there is shown a side view of a mobile system according to the present invention, including, by way of example, a ship 2 which is anchored with its stern facing the dock 4. The ship 2 can be approached by an unillustrated transport vehicle, e.g. a truck, from land via a bridge 6. The transport vehicle delivers organic residues, such as waste oil. Reference numeral 8 designates the water level.

The ship 2 includes a drive unit 10, e.g. a diesel motor or a turbine, having an air supply line 12 and an exhaust line 14. The drive unit 10 is provided for operating a propeller 16 of the ship 2 and is supplied with fuel, such as diesel oil, from a store tank 22 via a fuel line 18 and a fuel pump 20. The store tank 22 has an inlet port 24 for receiving diesel oil to be able to maintain a minimum fuel level.

As can be seen from the FIGURE, the store tank 22 is in fluid communication with a fuel supply line 26. A conveyor pump 28 may be disposed in the fuel supply line 26 for conducting fuel to the store tank 22 from a fuel tank 30 which is fluidly connected via a fuel line 32 to an apparatus, generally designated by reference numeral 34, for catalytic production of fuel, such as diesel oil, from organic residue, such as waste oil. Structure and manner of operation of such an catalytic apparatus is generally known to the artisan so that a detailed description thereof is omitted for the sake of simplicity.

Liquid organic residue is routed from an accepting device 36 to a receiving tank 38 and from there is fed via a supply line 40 and a feed pump 42 to the catalytic apparatus 34. Organic residue is converted in the catalytic apparatus 34 into fuel, such as diesel oil or mixture of diesel oils. As a result, produced fuel can then be conducted via the supply line 26 to the drive unit 10 for operating the ship 2.

The accepting device 36 for the receiving tank 38 may be constructed in the form of a hose connection for attachment of an unillustrated hose which is connected to the transport vehicle or to an on-shore tank.

As the catalytic apparatus 34 is accommodated on the ship 2, a mobile system is established which is flexible and can be quickly dispatched to different sites.

Oil spills are sometimes encountered in the harbor or off-shore that may have leaked or drained without permission and must be removed. In order to be able to remove such water-contaminating oil spills and recover the contained oil, the ship 2 includes a suction device 50 by which the oil spill can be drawn from the water surface. The suction device 50 is positioned at a level with the water level 8, for example on one side of the ship 2 or in an area of the bow of the ship 2, and includes a suction line 52 and a pump 54 by which the contaminated water is drawn into a water separation device 56 for producing clean water which is separated and discharged via a drain opening 58 into the water, e.g. harbor water. The waste oil which is substantially free of water is conducted via a line 60 into the receiving tank 38 for subsequent conversion into fuel in the catalytic apparatus 34.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in connection with currently preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and practical application to thereby enable a person skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. 

1. A system, comprising: an apparatus for catalytic production of diesel oil from organic residue; and a vehicle, wherein the apparatus is arranged on the vehicle to thereby render the apparatus mobile.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is a ship.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle has a drive unit, said apparatus including a fuel supply line operatively connected to the drive unit.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the organic residue includes waste oil for supply to the apparatus.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the waste oil is recovered from oil-contaminated water or waste oil discharged from the vehicle.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a suction device for drawing oil-contaminated water, and an extractor operatively connected to the suction device for removing waste oil from the oil-contaminated water.
 7. The system of claim 3, wherein the vehicle has a store tank containing fuel and operatively connected to the drive unit, and a fuel tank connected to the store tank by a supply line and provided for accepting fuel produced by the apparatus.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes a receiving tank having an accepting device constructed for attachment of a hose for charging the receiving tank with liquid organic residue.
 9. The system of claim 2, wherein the ship is constructed for approach by a transport vehicle for unloading organic residue into a receiving tank of the apparatus. 